A EUROPEAN SCANDAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 51

A EUROPEAN SCANDAL.

" THE HYENAS OF THE DANUBE."

A painful sensation has been created in Vienna by an article in one of tbe daily papers, entitled " The Hyenas of tbe Danube," in which a gruesomely realistic description is given of tbe annual appearance of hundreds of corpses floating down tbe river between Vienna and Hungary, which are regularly plundered by the people on the banks, and then cynically thrown back into the swift current of tbe stream never to be heard of again. The writer considers this horrible Btate of things mainly in a judicial light, and complains of the serious losses thus inflicted upon the living in consequence of tbe absence of all clue to the fate of their unfortunate relatives. "Year after year," be affirms, " hundreds of lifeless bodies — the mortal remains of suicides, victims of crime, and victims of accidents — rise to the surface of tbe Danube, are swept along with the current and washed up on the land on one bank or the other. Here they are discovered by the ' Hyenas,' who rifle the corpses, and then, as a rule, kick them back into the waves, after which no human bsucg worries about them more. Thousands of people vanish from the scene in this manner, no one ever learning what fate befell them. Bloodcurdling crimes remain undiscovered, and tbe uncertainty whether a man is dead or will return again to his family and friends is 'often fraught with heavy losses to the latter. No mound marks the spot where these unfortunate people rest ; tbey are struck out of the roll-call of humanity; no trace reveals the course of their last long journey ; tbey have simply vanished from the world like the losb wanderer in the desert, who is buried beneath enormous sand waves, or like the fanished traveler in the wilderness whose body becomes the food of birds of prey. And yet we are living in Europe 1"

The writer then goes on to show that a reward offered for the discovery of dead bodies in the Danube would amply suffice to remedy the evil, as is shown by the example of the city of Pressburg, which pays 3s 6d for every such corpse pointed out to the authorities. "It is chiefly a little above and a little below Pressburg that the countless victims which the capital hurls yearly into the Danube rise to the surface and are washed on the bank. In the suburbs of Pressburg it often happens that three or four such eerie finds are made in the course of a single day. They are always reported to the authorities, because every corpse means a rewatd of two guldens. The local police then endeavour to establish the identity of the person, and, whether they succeed or fail, they at least always grant it the privilege of human burial. In more than 60 per cent, of these cases the name and character of the victim remain a mystery, owing chiefly to the advanced stage of decomposition and property or money being very seldom found on any of them. Indeed, many bodies float along half naked, the "Hyenas of the D inube " having already had them in their clutches, and not only deprived them of whatever chanced to be in their pockets, but also denuded thsm of such articles of clothing as seemed still serviceable. Do they then inform the police of their discovery? They do nothing of the kind. That does not pay outside of Pressburg, where the two gulden reward is offered. Above and below that city, once tbey bave plundered the dead body, tbey thrust it back into the water. That is so much simpler, and saves them the trouble and worry of having to deal with the magistrate, and as for the rest— well, the Danube may do with it as it will J There are many speculative heads among these Hyenas, who, when the find is made at a moderate distance from Pressburg, tie a rope to tbe body, and, having attached it to the boat, smuggle it into the purlieus of tbe city, in order to qualify themselves to receive tbe two guldens. One day a well-known merchant of Pressburg disappeared without leaving a trace. His wife and family left nothing undone to discover what bad become of rheir breadwinner, bat their efforts were unavailing. Months passed in the torturing anxiety of uncertainty. At last, in the town of Raub, a wedding ring was offered for sale, with the name of tbe missing merchant engraved on it. Tbe goldsmith, as it happened, had read the story of his disappearance, and he had the seller of the ring arrested. When questioned, this peasant answered quite unconcernedly that he had taken the ring, and many other things besides, from a corpse that he found in the river. Fortunately he was humane enough not to cast it back again, but to oover it with a little sand on the bank of the stream. He remembered tbe spot, and tbe corpse was found. This is but one out of hundreds of similar cases, and the city of Vienna supplies about 80 per cent, of these unrecognised corpses. It is high time to put an end to this European scandal 1"

Valuable Discovery fob the Haib.— lf yom hair is turning grey or white, or falling off use the "Mexican Hair Rknkwke," for it will positively restore in every case Grey or White Hair to iti original colour without leaving the disagreeable ■mell of most "restorers." It makes the hah oharmingly beautiful, as well «a promoting the growth of the hair on raid spots, where the glandi •re not decayed. Aok your chemist for 1( Thi ICixican Haib Rznbwkb." Bold by ehemiitt and perfumers everywhere at 3s 6d per bottle Wholesale depot. 33 F»rringdon rood. London -

lOMPAHY,